Sysco names its top seafood suppliers of 2017

Several United States seafood suppliers were honored as vendors who have gone above and beyond according to Sysco Corporation standards, at the major distributor’s annual Supplier Excellence Awards event this week.

New Orleans, Louisiana-based Paul Piazza & Son Inc. received the highest recognition — a Gold Supplier Award — in the seafood category. The supplier, which specializes in wild shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, isn’t new to Sysco’s top tier – it scored a Bronze prize from the distributor in 2016.

Houston, Texas-based Devi Seafoods, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Devi Seafoods Limited, India, received the Silver Award in the seafood category. Devi Seafoods Limited is the largest exporter of farmed shrimp from India to the U.S., according to the company’s website. Last year, the company was awarded a Gold Supplier Award and, in 2014, it was the first seafood business to receive Sysco’s “Supplier if the Year” distinction.

Several other seafood operations were recognized as Bronze-level vendors in 2017: Great American Seafood Import Co., Trident Seafood, King & Prince Seafood, F.W. Bryce Inc., and Downeast/ Cape Bald Packers.

The award recipients were selected from a pool of more than 1,300 eligible companies based on sales growth, operational excellence and other key business performance metrics set forth by the company’s merchandising, quality assurance and supply chain departments, according to Sysco.

Meanwhile, McCain Foodservice was honored as the 2017 “Supplier of the Year,” with Waypoint named “Broker of the Year.”